Dorian Patchin has ten years of experience in Internet product management and online publishing. He joined Winetasting.com from NBC Internet where he was VP and general manager of the XOOM.com division. There he placed an emphasis on creating opportunities for e-commerce and advertising through membership generation via distribution of free viral web products and services. His background includes numerous Internet start-ups including Spark Online, Alexa Internet (bought by Amazon.com), Freeloader, the first "push technology" software/service (bought by Individual Inc.), and Digital Ink, the first online endeavor of the Washington Post. Patchin is also a managing partner in Andojo I, a $20 million technology venture fund. He holds a BA degree in History and English from Ohio's Wesleyan University and is an avid wine drinker.
Eric Chow joins Winetasting.com from Wineshopper.com where he was chief architect. Prior to Wineshopper.com, Chow was managing director for Charles Schwab & Co.'s Electronic Brokerage Technology and Schwab Technology Architecture and Planning divisions. He designed and implemented Schwab.com' s e-commerce platform, and developed the system services to support online trading. Chow also held engineering and technology management positions at Tandem Computers and was the founder, CEO of PowerTrader Inc. and inventor of the PowerTrader, a high performance trading technology. Chow received his BSc. honours in physics and mathematics in the United Kingdom.
Karen D. Roche has spent the majority of her career helping companies improve their market development strategies and develop corresponding organization and support structures to execute these strategies. Her background includes ten years of management consulting, first at Towers Perrin General Management Practice and then at Sibson & Company as a managing partner. She also brings ten years of sales and marketing experience at technology services firms including ADP - Network Services and Control Data. Roche is a frequent lecturer at both the UCLA and USC graduate business schools and is published in several business journals. She holds a M.B.A. degree from the Anderson School at the University of California at Los Angeles and a B.S. degree in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
William P. Davies joins Winetasting.com from a 14-year career in sales and marketing management. As director of Sales & Marketing at Schramsberg Vineyards, he led national and export sales, marketing, public relations and other management activities. He is a former partner in WPD Development and has held positions with Southern Wine & Spirits and Beringer, Cuvaison and Trefethen wineries. Going outside the wine industry, Davies created an organic products division for California Pacific Rice, overseeing marketing, sales, operations and business development. Davies has served on the boards and committees of several wine industry organizations including director-Schramsberg Vineyards, Steering Committee-Wine Industry Symposium, board member-Committee for Sustainable Agriculture, Standards Committee-California Certified Organic Farmers. Davies holds a M.B.A. from University of California, Davis, and also a certificate in Viticulture and Enology.
Douglas S. FitzGibbon brings extensive experience in advertising, promotions and integrated marketing. He was most recently an account supervisor with Highway One Communications, where he worked on accounts including Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and Domaine Chandon. Prior to that he was director of client services for Pickett Communications and managed accounts for Netcom, Robert Mondavi and Symantec. He has held several senior account executive positions working with clients including Microsoft, Pacific Bell and Sun Microsystems. FitzGibbon holds a BA in English & History from Colgate University and enjoys the outdoors, collecting wine, culinary arts, the theatre, jazz, and cycling.
Lead financing is provided by William R. Hambrecht, chairman of WR Hambrecht + Co and is an outgrowth of Napa-based leading direct marketer Ambrosia. Founded in 1991, the company Winetasting.com now reaches over one million wine and food enthusiasts per year through its Ambrosia cellar program and the Winetasting.com online winery cooperative.
